Happiness
by Gray Wings
Summary: InuYasha is content. It is a new feeling. Miroku tries to explain how happiness works to the world's most stubborn youkai.


**Story written per request of Tumblr user fierce-floette. Enjoy!**

* * *

InuYasha was content.

A strange feeling, he mused, ears flickering gently as wood cracked amid dancing flames. A heady feeling; it left him hollow and too-full. Happy.

A shadow fell over the seated hanyou. InuYasha tipped his head back, a slow smile pulling his lips into a crescent. Creased iris smiled back, soft mouth capturing his in a chaste kiss before a supple body curled about his own.

"Good evening, love."

InuYasha sighed, leaning ever so slightly into the monk's warmth. The contact soothed him, calmed the beast trapped within hanyou flesh. _Mine_, the monster rumbled in satisfaction, _here._ InuYasha barely restrained himself from nosing into the monk's neck and purring. He did not allow basic animalism to rule him. Not often.

The unease InuYasha felt when Miroku was not in his sight was difficult to deal with. It was the result of an instinct, the inherent need to protect. Attempts to suppress it left InuYasha feeling like he had failed his mate. More embarrassing, it inevitably led to even more outrageously domineering behavior.

Miroku approached the whole issue with relatively good humor, catering to InuYasha's ingrained possessiveness whenever he could. On such occasions, the beast preened under the monk's attention and InuYasha had to try very hard not to reward his mate's doting with amorous pawing. Doing so only encouraged the beast and definitely emboldened his perverted mate.

Some hours ago, Miroku had volunteered to replenish their supply of firewood. The hanyou had reluctantly let him out of his sight and into the transparent darkness of the forest. He had not managed to make himself focus on anything besides the monk's even heartbeat ever since, and was quite surprised to find only Kagome remained awake, eyes liquid amber against the dying fire.

"He has barely moved since you left," the human girl whispered conspiratorially at Miroku, "I was about to poke him to make sure he is still breathing."

InuYasha bit his tongue against a defensive outburst. The tension in the muscles of his lower back and shoulders lent truth to Kagome's teasing and anyway, Miroku did not seem to mind.

The warm hand palming his ass while Kagome beamed at them, unaware, certainly did not.

"Oh?" Miroku turned to smile cheekily at a desperately stoic InuYasha, "Miss me much, babe?"

"Shut up," grumbled the hanyou, lips twitching at the sound of Kagome's laughter.

Their conversation was comfortable. It filled the autumn night with light and quiet joy. That warm, transparent fullness pushed against InuYasha's chest again, freed smile after another. His cheeks would ache, he thought. Before Miroku, he had not known he could ache with happiness.

His relationship with Kikyo had been too fraught, the result of two stubborn personalities vying for dominance fate had denied both. Kagome was easier to love. She had been kinder than most to InuYasha even before they had become friends, at the height of the hanyou's arrogance and in the midst of her own ignorance. InuYasha had thought she would be his one; not to have, for he had long given up hope of ever deserving someone dear at his side, but to love and protect from afar. Kagome did become that for him, as did Shippo and Sango and soft little Kiira. It took a long time before InuYasha allowed himself to see that they loved and wanted him back. In light of that revelation, the Jewel lost its hold over the hanyou's heart.

InuYasha watched as Kagome snuggled in her sleeping bag, a tuff of black hair soon the only visible part of the human girl. As her breathing eased into sleep he allowed himself to relax further, to lean more fully into Miroku's arms.

"Long day," murmured the monk. InuYasha nodded, nose scrunching up at the memory of their most recent hunt. A snake demon, scaly body engorged with a Shard's power and human flesh. The serpent stank of rot the moment InuYasha's claws sliced through its neck. Harvesting the Shard from its place beneath a still-beating heart had been extremely unpleasant.

The Jewel granted wishes capriciously, naively – with a malice only the willingly ignorant possess. Elbows-deep in snake guts, InuYasha wondered if the magical crystal had ever held the key to his happiness.

Miroku sighed happily against InuYasha's chest, soft black hair tickling the hanyou's nose and lips. InuYasha carefully curled a clawed hand against the monk's neck, massaging the muscles there before guiding the human's head up. A shared glance melted into a kiss, soft with love and wet with hunger.

InuYasha let himself be pushed back, took Miroku's weight on his chest eagerly. Earth and leaves dug into his skin and he hardly cared, pulled Miroku in tighter by his slim hips. The monk's eyes glistened, clothed hands lifting to grip the hanyo's jaw. InuYasha gave into the unvoiced command and relaxed, allowing Miroku's tongue to push into his mouth and plunder at will. Pinned by the human's weight, taken by his tongue, InuYasha felt raw. Bare. The beast within him whined, writhed, sought to bare his neck and plead for more.

InuYasha spread his legs and arched up. Miroku groaned, teeth nipping with violent lust at InuYasha's pink lips. The hanyou's thighs tightened about him, supple hips rising and falling in a slow grind. Miroku could feel InuYasha's hardness, felt saliva pool into his mouth at the thought of it leaking within the confines of the robe. He reached between their thrusting bodies and cupped the thick flesh in his hand, pressing it against the rough fabric.

InuYasha broke their kiss with a bitten off howl, eyes glazed in honey lust. His cheeks were flushed, his full lips curled up to reveal long fangs. Miroku knew saliva pooled in the hanyo's mouth, knew that he will be mounted and claimed and bruised, and trembled with desire for it all. Keeping his eyes on his half-wild lover, he tipped his head back and bared his neck.

The night tumbled, righting itself a moment later. They were no longer by the fire, but a more private spot deeper into the forest. Soft moss covered the forest floor, protecting the human's hands and feet from the rough ground and Miroku smiled, pushing more fully into the hanyou's solid chest. The monk was on his knees, robes pooled around his shoulders and thighs as his lover sniffed down his arched body. InuYasha growled, half out of his mind, biting softly at an exposed shoulder blade and Miroku moaned, spread his legs and lowered his head so his ass cradled InuYasha's crotch.

"Please," he groaned, biting off a moan as the hanyou curled large hands against his hips and set to grinding his still clothed cock between the soft mounds of the monk's ass. Miroku whimpered as the rough cloth dragged repeatedly over his sensitive hole, letting out another desperate plea.

InuYasha keened, reluctantly releasing his lover in order to tear at the clothing separating their bodies. In the absence of the hanyou's touch, Miroku rocked back and forth against the cool air, arms trembling as he resisted the need to touch himself. InuYasha paused in his desperate scrambling, eyes narrowing on his lover's body. The monk's skin was soft, stretched rich and supple over tight muscles. The gorgeous swell of his ass, the heavy cock and balls trembling between spread thighs made his mouth water. The growl that rumbled past his vocal cords was all beast, all animal, and he threw himself on the monk as one, spread him wide and licked deep into his flushed body.

Miroku screamed himself breathless in the cradle of his arms. Each lick of InuYasha's long tongue left him mewling, rocking, begging to be taken and owned and loved. When a clawed finger pushed in beside it, he arched up and grabbed his cock, squeezing to staunch the tide of orgasm.

"Please, 'Yasha," the words were barely there, eaten out by moans and sweat and saliva, "Please, do it, please, please—"

A final swipe of his tongue, and InuYasha reared back up, sprawled his full body on top of the monk's. One of his arms came about the monk's heaving chest, the other braced their weight against the forest floor. His own cock swung between his legs, swollen and leaking into the nest of white curls that covered his crotch and balls. He teased the cockhead against the stretched rim of Miroku's asshole, dragging its length back and forth against the inflamed skin. The world swirled around Miroku, air gaining the thickness of water as he gasped for breath and mercy from his lover.

When InuYasha thrust into him, it was with a roar.

Miroku mewled as the thick cock entered him, spread his legs as far as he could go to accommodate the girth and length of his mate. His eyes rolled back into his head as he was impaled, too full to do more than whimper and rock against the hanyou's hold. Feeling InuYasha's balls slap solid against his ass, Miroku let go of all propriety and shamelessly canted his ass up, begging with both voice and body to be bred.

"Fuck me, do it, own me, mark me, c'me on oh fuck, _fu_-"

InuYasha thrust deep, pulled out and did so again, each time a bit harder, a bit faster. Hearing his mate ask for him, beg for him, made the beast within him whine with pleasure, made him want to keep Miroku pinned by his body, by his cock for days. He could. He would, once the quest was over, once it was all over and they could live in peace—

They rocked against, with each other, each lost in the other's flesh and scent. In the final moments of their coupling, Miroku lifted a trembling hand and drew the snarling hanyou to him, uncaring of sharp teeth and blown pupils. Their kiss was messy, bloody, ended in a scream as Miroku released in the deep green of the moss. A moment later InuYasha bit his completion in his lover's neck, inking his ownership of the other man in saliva and blood. Miroku gasped with the gorgeous pain, smiled.

"I love you, too."

* * *

Five days later, InuYasha was decidedly less content with life and the universe in general.

There had been another Shard. Another petty, power-hungry demon, another battle for a tiny piece of a gem none of them truly wanted anymore.

Power had been the demon's Wish of choice. Extreme, tearing power in his four giant hands. InuYasha could no longer even tell what kind of demon the creature had once been, so distorted and mutated was its maddened body. It did not matter, InuYasha had thought as he parried the demon's bone-breaking fists, it did not matter for it was about to die.

When a giant tail capped with an oozing, angry stinger twisted about the demon's body and found its mark in Miroku's soft abdomen, InuYasha found himself terribly wrong.

The hanyou had no memory of tearing the creature apart, no memory of crossing the blood-drenched field and collapsing at the monk's side. The beast within him broke free, overpowered every logical thought in InuYasha's body with pure pain and heart wrenching distress. The feeling of Miroku's limp body in his arms, wind and grass under his feet InuYasha recalled clearly; the rest was tar blackness, ignored in favor of counting Miroku's breaths, the slowing beats of his heart.

When InuYasha could think again he found himself crouched in the middle of Kaede's hut, growling at the older woman as she wound a tight compress over the monk's cleaned wound. He did not know when he had arrived, had no recollection of the time that had passed. They were fortunate to have been in the vicinity of Kaede's village, even more fortunate that InuYasha's youkai found the old miko safe.

_Lucky_, InuYasha's thoughts swirled with dark delirium, _So incredibly, fucking lucky._

Two days later, Miroku was pale and weak but very much alive. Swaddled in bandages and stinking of various herbs, the monk battled the lingering pain and weakness with raunchy jokes. InuYasha's blood thrummed with emotion at the fond, sleepy smiles Miroku offered to him alone, equal parts worried and happy.

The hanyou watched his mate with a starved focus, noting every shift and twitch of his body. The fever had been last to go, gripping the monk in painful unconsciousness long after the demon's poison had been flushed from Miroku's body. The monk was now recovering. He needed rest. InuYasha would make sure he rested.

"InuYasha, I need your help."

InuYasha's ears flickered at the sound of Kaede's voice just outside the sickroom's entrance. The hanyou remained otherwise motionless, staring at the dimples framing his mate's smile.

Miroku's grin widened, iris eyes dancing with silent laughter. "Come now, 'Yasha. I am not going anywhere. Go see what Kaede needs."

The hanyou debated ignoring both humans for a moment more. Kaede's help was a heavy debt in his mind, however, and he finally rose with a grunt. Still, he dragged his feet and glanced one too many times at the prostate man, prompting Miroku to issue an amused, "Go!"

InuYasha went.

Miroku relaxed back against the cot with a sigh. As wonderful as it was to have loving friends, the hovering he had been subjected to over the last few days was starting to grate on his already frayed nerves. InuYasha's overbearing concern was the worst by far, driven as it was by the hanyou's ingrained fear of abandonment. Miroku could not decide whether he should feel angry or guilty as his lover waited on him hand and foot, eyes hooded with misplaced shame all the while.

It was all too tiring, and the monk found himself almost glad to be left alone.

A soft thud and a familiar blaze of youkai prompted a sigh from the human's mouth; or not.

"What can I do for you, Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"Die."

The monk instinctively braced himself for pain, aching muscles tensing beneath furs and bandages, eyes squeezing shut. A quiet moment passed. Realizing the demon lord had been merely stating a fact rather than issuing an active threat, Miroku opened his eyes and let his lips pull into an arrogant smile.

"Thank you, but I would rather not. I am much too fond of your brother."

"As he is of you." The words sounded like an accusation.

Curiosity piqued, the monk pushed himself to his elbows and focused his attention on the demon lord. Sesshoumaru's face was a ceramic mask, his presence poised and effortlessly intimidating even amid the comfortable clutter of Kaede's home. A marble statue.

Miroku almost felt bad about the ease with which he saw through the youkai's act.

The monk wondered if Sesshoumaru would skewer him if he told the demon how much he resembled his brother. That line of tension framing his lips? Miroku had seen InuYasha wear it more times than he could count over the past few days. Neither had the monk missed the darkness that had clouded Sesshoumaru's face when Miroku had pushed to his elbows, the monk's muscles tense with pain.

Miroku blinked. Sesshoumaru had been upset to see him move – no; Sesshoumaru had been upset to see him in pain. Miroku frowned. The Lord of the Western Lands would not waste his concern on an insignificant human, not when he was so stingy with the care he showed his own brother—

Oh.

Miroku's mouth fell open in an unattractive gape. As understanding became knowledge, the monk's lips pulled into a quiet smile.

"One day," Miroku said, firm and gentle and final, "I will die. So will InuYasha, and even you, Lord Sesshoumaru. In that, we are all equal."

Sesshoumaru's eyes remained cold, distant, but the strain thinning his lips was pronounced. As the silence stretched, Miroku wondered if Sesshoumaru would simply leave. Hoped he would not.

When Sesshoumaru spoke, his voice was tinged with resignation.

"Your life is nothing, human. A handful of years, a mere spark to the fire of a youkai's lifespan." The Lord of the Western Lands hesitated, at last revealing his final verdict and the reason of his visit, "He will mourn you far longer than he will love you."

And you will mourn us all, Miroku thought but did not say. InuYasha would lose him, and Kagome, and Sango, but Sesshoumaru would be the one left behind in the end. Rin's life was passing by the youkai's eyes at a speed that frightened him; InuYasha, too, would depart long before his older brother even had the chance to feel age weight his bones. Miroku wondered how much of Sesshoumaru's disdain of his half-sibling stemmed from the hanyou's greater mortality rather than his mixed heritage.

Miroku shook his head, discarding melancholy like an ill-fitting robe. Enough.

"Death is not a limit for love, Lord Sesshoumaru. Neither am I the sole source of InuYasha's happiness. He will mourn me, yes, but he will not remain alone in my absence. Be it in friends or lovers, he will find happiness again. He must. Doing anything else would be beyond foolish of him, and too cruel to me." The monk smiled at the silent demon, letting his head fall back onto the cot. "He must not tarnish the memory of his loved ones by blaming their absence for his unhappiness."

Nothing more was said. Miroku felt the room empty of Sesshoumaru's presence, the youkai contained within it disappearing between one moment and another. With it departed quite a bit of the monk's lingering pain. The monk smiled at the ceiling, fondness welling up in his chest as he considered the exasperating pigheadedness of Inu youkai.

InuYasha burst into the room not a breath later, nose scrunched up suspiciously as he surveyed the empty room – his usual reaction after leaving Miroku alone for any length of time. He did not catch his brother's scent, as Sesshoumaru had completely masked his presence.

Inuyasha sprawled on Miroku's left, putting his body between the monk and the door. After a beat, he slowly inched closer, sniffing out the monk's pain and sickness. Satisfied, the hanyou pushed his nose into his lover's neck and carefully curled his body against the human's.

Miroku smiled wider and pulled the tired man into his arms.

"Sleep, love," he said, voice and eyes clear, "I am here."

InuYasha slept, content.


End file.
